"Black Widow" is a good spy thriller who was 5 years late

A long-awaited but irrelevant story

After the events of the film "Captain America: Civil War" in 2016, Natasha Romanoff decides to hide from the US government, which is headed by General Ross. She moves to Norway, but finds mail from her secret apartment in Budapest.

One of the packages is being hunted by the villain Taskmaster, who is able to copy the fighting styles of any superheroes. Fleeing from him, and at the same time trying to figure out the contents of the package, Romanoff returns to Budapest, where he meets Elena Belova (Florence Pugh), another pupil of the Soviet special services.

Together they declare war on the head of the Red Room, Drake (Ray Winston), who raises female special agents in his organization. To win, the heroines team up with the Red Guard (David Harbor), a Russian superhero who once raised the girls as a father.

Scarlett Johansson, David Harbor and Florence Pugh in Black Widow

The first and foremost reason why a solo Black Widow film is essential may sound trite. Many fans have long believed that the heroine, who played an important role in almost a dozen films in the cinematic universe, has long deserved to be told about her in more detail. And now the release looks even more offensive: because of the postponements, the film was released even later than the series "The Falcon and the Winter Soldier" - stories about secondary characters who appeared in Marvel's on-screen plots much later.

In addition, Scarlett Johansson needs to say goodbye to the fans with dignity. No, this is not a spoiler: the character was taken out of the plot two years ago in the movie "Avengers: Endgame". Now the authors decided to finally reveal what happened in Budapest.

Scarlett Johansson in the movie Black Widow

But too long waiting for the Black Widow solo album makes the picture irrelevant. The film should have been shot immediately after the "Confrontation", which would coincide with the chronology of the MCU. And the point is not even that now everyone knows about the future fate of the heroine and therefore in dangerous scenes you can not worry about her.

It's just that Marvel talked about the origin of the main team at the start of the MCU. And the prequels about superheroines, filmed in the same style in recent years, seem to be trying to catch up with the stories of Iron Man and Captain America, but they look too simple. In the rest of the films, they have already abandoned the clichéd villains and pretentious phrases. And only "Captain Marvel" and "Black Widow" roll back the presentation style years ago.

Here I even want to break the traditional recommendation to watch the studio's pictures as they come out. For those who are just starting to get acquainted with the world of "Avengers", it will be better to get acquainted with "Black Widow" immediately after "Confrontation".

Bouncy action, but awkward sociality

Since Romanoff has no supernatural powers, the film is more reminiscent of traditional spy thrillers than a superhero movie. Realism, of course, should not be expected from him: the characters perform the wildest stunts in cars and helicopters and receive terrible blows, while remaining alive and well. Certain scenes do not even resemble James Bond films, but rather Fast and Furious: in the movies, you can rarely see drifting on an armored personnel carrier right on the city streets.

Scarlett Johansson and Florence Pugh in Black Widow

The construction of the plot repeats the standard adventure films about special agents. First, the heroines assemble a team. To do this, they move to different locations: from sunny Budapest to snowy Russia. By the way, in the first case, connoisseurs of cinema will see a lot of irony: such films are often filmed in Hungary, because there are bright places and comfortable working conditions. And finally, the authors may not pass off the streets of Budapest as conditional France or Germany, but show the beauty of this city.

Then comes the development of a plan, betrayal, a clash with the villain and other expected twists and turns. But, oddly enough, I don't want to accuse the authors of being too predictable. The most clichéd moments are treated rather ironically. Even Natasha's famous pose, which has literally become a symbol of the heroine, is ridiculed throughout the film.

And the rest of the superhero themes are served with humor. The Red Guard can hardly fit in his costume, and his fight with Taskmaster is clearly a parody of pretentious scenes from early Marvel films.

There is a little less action in the picture than we would like. It seems that there are flights against the background of an avalanche, jumping from great heights with and without a parachute, firefights (sometimes right during the fall of the plane). And, of course, fights: Black Widow is famous for her hand-to-hand fighting. Alas, in some of them, editing is often done: in a flash it is difficult to see who is hitting whom and where everyone is falling. At the same time, the pace of the narrative sags a lot. Moreover, now the audience is spoiled by furious action franchises like Mission: Impossible. But here the authors dilute the action too much with family drama and social themes.

It is in this part of the story that there are serious problems. The previous (only) MCU film about a female character "Captain Marvel" tried to take the viewer as far away from questions of sexism as possible: the heroine followed exactly the same path as men with superpowers, and there was a woman among her enemies. But "Black Widow" makes a clear emphasis on the brutality of the patriarchy.

But in a strange way, the topic is disclosed almost worse than in "Red Sparrow" with Jennifer Lawrence. The main problem is that the female special agents themselves are shown to be completely faceless. The Black Widows, who were subdued by the evil Drakes, always walk in a group, reminiscent of the "touched by The Dick Tracy Show / YouTube" from the animated series The Dick Tracy Show. All the characters, for whose lives Romanoff and Belova are fighting, are given literally five lines, and in the finale they simply disappear without a trace. It is difficult to feel the tragedy of heroines who are not very interesting to the authors themselves.

And an additional portion of tests awaits Russian viewers, since part of the action takes place in our country. We must pay tribute to the elaboration: there are no gross mistakes in language and surroundings in the film. Romanoff drives a Niva, then the heroines fly in an MI-8 helicopter with Russian inscriptions, and even most of the tattoos of the Red Guard are quite literate and believable.

At the same time, the introduction of the film unfolds in 1995, then the action moves to the 21st century. However, the ideology of Russian heroes and villains seems to have come from the clichéd USSR during the Cold War. If you don't take all this as grotesque irony, you can feel the Spanish shame.

Great protagonists, but failed villains

Before the release of the picture, some fans doubted whether a film about only Natasha Romanoff would be interesting. Indeed, in all the previous ones, she only supplemented the team led by the charismatic Tony Stark or Steve Rogers.

But the authors acted cleverly and added several bright heroes to "Black Widow" at once. Suffice it to say that three Oscar nominees come together in the frame: Scarlett Johansson, Florence Pugh and Rachel Weisz. The chemistry between the first two holds most of the atmosphere.

Here, unfortunately, it is worth adding that Belova's Russian dubbing kills half of the heroine's emotions. Even in the trailers, you can see how interesting she plays with her voice. So, if possible, the film should be watched in the original.

Complementing the bright trinity is David Harbor as an aged and overweight Soviet superhero. Some details of his fate will surely spark another wave of fan theories about the connection between "Black Widow" and "Stranger Things."

This character is responsible for humor. He dilutes literally every scene with funny skips that prevent the action from becoming too pretentious. And for sure, it is the Red Guard that will become the main favorite of many Russian viewers, even despite the stereotypes. He's just charm.

What's even more interesting is that Black Widow is a rare occasion when Marvel talks about highly controversial characters. All goodies are professional assassins in the past. Doesn't sound too much like Captain America. Although you should not expect that their relationship will reveal believable. The matter will not go further than the stereotype of finding a family.

Against the background of interesting goodies, the complete lack of elaboration of villains is even more noticeable. Marvel only in recent years began to move away from clichéd antagonists towards characters with motivation: Baron Zemo and Thanos really adhered to their somewhat logical philosophy.

Drakes - a return to the worst types. He's just evil and wants to rule the world for no reason. His abomination is visible in literally every scene with him. Drakes is incapable of saying anything but humiliating nastiness, even when it comes to the loss of his own daughter. In such an absurd image, apparently, the most disgusting manifestations of patriarchy are embodied. But the sheer grotesque gets in the way of realism.

The case could have been saved by Taskmaster. This comic book character is great for action scenes. And at first, he will really delight fans of the MCU: the villain will copy the battle styles of Captain America, Hawkeye, Black Panther and other familiar heroes. And the mirrored movements of Romanoff herself turn the fight with him into a very aesthetic choreographic scene.

But Taskmaster will be given too little time for such bright moments. More often he will just walk pathetically, or even stand with a menacing look. Alas, we can again talk about the missed potential of a cool character.

Black Widow is a typical Marvel solo movie with all its strengths and weaknesses. In addition, it was also filmed much later than the required date. He will give fans a lot of pleasant impressions: bright heroes delight with action and jokes, and Romanoff herself says goodbye to the MCU. At the same time, the excessive cliche of villains and the awkwardness of social themes interfere with the perception of the picture.

But two years have passed since the release of the previous Marvel movie. Therefore, you can scold "Black Widow" as much as you like, but the audience will definitely go to her in the movies. Most of them will be satisfied, but few people will want to watch this film, and even more so to understand it.

It is worth noting that in the end, the authors have a surprise in store for the audience. The traditional Marvel scene after the credits, firstly, will refer to the series "The Falcon and the Winter Soldier", and secondly, it will hint that the further fate of one of the heroines will turn in a very unexpected way.